Chapter summary's for each book
Book One Chapter 2: The Voice Derek Almond is having a conversation with Roger Dascombe who work with propaganda. He is telling Derek how Lewis Prothero, otherwise known as the voice of fate, is a very sensitive person. He actually collects dolls. Derek and Dascombe keep talking and you can tell they don’t like each other. It cuts to the shadow gallery where V shows Evey around. He shows her his wide collection of books, films, and even paintings. Evey is amazed at everything he has. It then cuts to a later time where Prothero is on a train with some of his men. He talks to them and we learn that he can be rude. The lights go out on the train and they all hear a noise. All of a sudden both of Prothero’s men are dead and the mark of V is left on the train. Chapter III - Victim Chapter three begins with a detective, Mr. Finch, investigating the incident that occured on the train the previous evening. He has the belief that the same person who boarded the moving train and committed the murders was the same person who bombed the Parliament building, under the pretenses that the crimes committed were outside the realm of natural human beings with natural abilities. During his investigation, the manner of the murders is gradually revealed: The train conductor was incapacitated by a light touch on the neck, and the chest of one of the victims was destroyed by what appeared to be fingers. On one of the seats in the train, Finch finds a rose, known as a "violet Carson", which leads him to comment on V's affinity for the letter "v". Finch then states that without a body to be found, the likeliest thing is that V had kidnapped Prothero. The next scene is in V's home, the Shadow Gallery, where Prothero's body is, in fact, laying in his bed, while Evey is unbeknownst and crying downstairs. V approaches her, and as she's made aware of his presense, she begins to divulge her feelings. She thanks him for rescuing her, and tells him how scared she was that he wasn't going to return--this leads her, upon further prompting from V, to tell him about her family. Evey was born in the eightees, and tells that, because of the recession, she was unable to have siblings. V asks her about the war, and she recalls what she knows. When Evey was seven years old, global nuclear war broke out across the entire planet. While Britain wasn't bombed, flooding in London caused her and her father to move to the countryside. Food was scarce, and the sewers began to flood, causing widespread illness that brought Evey's mother's untimely death. Riots were a result of the government being destroyed, and from the rubble rose the fascist group "Norsefire", which took a totalitarian control over Britain; people of color, radicals, homosexuals, and socialists were taken away as a result of Norsefire's means to keep themselves empowered. Evey's father was taken away in 1993, on her birthday, never to be seen again, and Evey lived the next four years of her life in a hostel, performing factory labor with other orphans. She begins to break down again, and V consoles her by ensuring her that they can "wipe it all away." Lewis Prothero awakens in the room upstairs, and sees himself at the gates of a resettlement camp. Chapter Five The chapter begins with an inner monologue of the Leader, Adam Susan. During this inner monologue we learn about Adam Susan. We learn a lot about his beliefs about fascism. Although he is portrayed as an evil despot by V, he does care about his country and its well-being. He points out that he has a love, but she is not a woman. He has no human connections, but he is not lonely for he has Fate. After Adam Susan’s monologue V begins a conversation with the statue of Madam Justice. V speaks to Madam Justice like a secret admirer. He introduces himself, but then begins to speak to Madam Justice as if they were in a relationship. V also speaks FOR Madam Justice, and has a conversation with himself. He accuses Madam Justice of cheating on him with the abusive fascists. He disregards this and claims he has a mistress. This mistress’ name is Anarchy. He has forgone the security of Justice for the pleasure of Anarchy, and it has taught him very much. V then leaves a final gift, a bomb, at the feet of the statue. We are shown pictures of a broken Prothero. He is apparently no longer capable of communicating with other humans, but as Mr. Finch goes to leave Prothero hears something that triggers a memory of a room with the number five assigned to it which is the room that V resided in at the Larkhill Resettlement camp. “V. V. V. V. V…. vi veri veniversum vivus vici.” This motto, which seems very important to V, is introduced and explained to us. “By the power of trueth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.” The chapter ends at a Westminster Abby on December 20th during a church service. Chapter 6 : The Vision The chapter begins with Conrad and Helen Heyer and Derek and Rose Almond having a conversation after getting out of church, and Mrs. Heyer wants Derek to talk about his terrorist case. Mrs. Heyer keeps telling Mrs. Almond about how great Derek is and how lucky she is to have him, and then she dismisses her own husband. When Conrad and Helen leave, Rose talks about how hard Helen is on Conrad and Derek snaps at her and says she shouldn’t say anything until she’s as good as Mrs. Heyer. The scene switches to the Bishop in his office with his servant Denis, and they begin to talk about the sermon the Bishop gave. They talk about how the part about the forces of Satan was unnecessary, but the Bishop said Fate wanted it included. This shows how the government controls even religion and uses it to keep control of the minds of society. Next, we find out the Bishop is a pedophile when he asks about what little girl he is going to have today and Denis says she’s a little older because there was a mix up at the agency. This shows the corruption that the church has in society in the story, and the corruption it has had in the past with religious figures being pedophiles. When we finally see the girl, its Evey dressed in a young girl outfit. Evey has become a prostitute, like she was at the beginning but now for a different reason. Then the scene goes to V picking a rose at the Shadow Gallery, which means he’s probably going to kill someone. While he is getting the rose he is saying the poem “Jerusalem” by William Blake, which is about taking action on issues and not letting the “sword” sleep in the hand. The scene then switches to the Deans Yard, which is outside of the church. Dennis brings out drinks for two security guards, and they start complaining about how Mr. Almond is wasting double security on all the "V.I.P.'s" because of the terrorism. When the guards ask about the liquor Dennis says how the Bishop won’t miss it tonight because he is dining on the finest veal, meaning Evey. As Denis leaves he says “There may be no peace for the wicked…But the righteous can get a piece whenever they feel like it”, referring to the Bishop being a pedophile and no one saying anything because he is in a position of power. Chapter VII - Virtue Victorious Chapter seven begins with Evey, dressed as a young girl in twin braids, sitting with the Bishop inside of the abbey and stalling for time as she waits for V to arrive. Little happens in this chapter, outside of the Bishop falling for the bait, and V arriving to deliver swift justice. Evey asks to open the window, mentioning she enjoyed hearing the breeze while having sex, when really, it’s to serve as a means with which V can enter the building while Evey has the Bishop distracted. The Bishop then leads Evey into his bedroom, and begins reciting a prayer as the scene depicts V incapacitating the security guards out at front in order to rescue Evey in time, and in order to slay the Bishop. Once the prayer has ended, V has entered the building, but has yet to make his way to the Bishop in time to stop him before he can lay his hands on Evey. Evey resorts to defending herself and escaping, and when the Bishop begins to give chase, V stops him at the door, and introduces himself as “a man of wealth, and fine taste.” The chapter ends with the lights in the abbey going out, and the next scene begins at the Ear. Chapter 8: The Valley In this chapter Finch and Dominic Analyze the crime scene. They arrive to the Westminister and see the bishops bodyguards dead. While walking through the house they notice V's mark on the wall, and they find a rose. They go into the room were the bishop was killed and try to reenact the crime scene. They find a tape that V recorded and find out that V was the man in room five and that he killed the bishop by placing a wafer in his mouth, a poisoned wafer. The chapter ends with Mr. Finch consulting Delia about the bishops body, he then hands her the Rose they found at the crime scene and the scene closes with her holding the rose in shock. Chapter Nine The terrorist case starts to get to Mr. Almond in this chapter as he is heckled by Rosemary. He does not want to talk to her about the case but she insists he does. Rosemary says, "You don't talk to me, you don't eat with me, you don't have sex with..." (65). This is all Mr. Almond can take and seems to hit Rosemary. In this chapter Evey also tells V that she is done killing for him. The chapter ends with Mr. Almond pointing his gun at Rosemary and pulling the trigger. Despite pulling the trigger Mr. Almond says, "Don't worry Rose. I didn't load it. Not tonight." (71). Chapter Eleven: The Vortex Finch explains the murder of Delia and Almond to the Leader. Finch then shows and reads sections of Delia’s diary to the Leader, explaining the connection V has to the resettlement camps, and to Prothero, Bishop Lilliman, and Delia. In the past, V was a prisoner at the Larkhill Resettlement Camp and stayed in Room V. Prothero was a commander at the resettlement camp while V was there, Lilliman was in charge of prayer at the resettlement camp while V was there, and Delia was a doctor at the resettlement camp while V was there. V was resistant to the conditions of the camp and seemed to be insane (at least according to Delia.) He was a very active prisoner and was allowed to tend to the garden and have his own garden of roses. V was allowed keep items in his room such as ammonia-based fertilizer, grease, and solvent. Eventually, V used these items to create mustard gas and napalm. He uses the mixtures to blow up buildings and the ovens and leaves behind mustard gas everywhere, killing much of the camp workers and prisoners. V walks through everything unharmed and looks at Delia straight in the face like she was inferior to him. The images of V walking with the fire behind him are parallel to the images Delia thought of while sitting on her couch in her house with the rose in Chapter 9 of Book 1. V then escapes. Finch assumes that V created a base of operations (which the reader knows is the Shadow Gallery) during this time of freedom. He also determines that V left Prothero, Lilliman, and Delia alive to kill them last in ironic ways for his own humor and for them to suffer. Finch figures the “terrorism” and murders that V were committing were merely a revenge plan and possibly over since V has had his revenge, or that there is more to his plan. He also questions whether the events are a cover story, to cover up the events of Larkhill, which the Leader doubts. The scene ends with the Leader saying “England prevails,” and Finch getting ready to leave. The Leader calls for Finch as he is leaving and there is a close up of his angry face. Book Two Chapter One In The Vanishing, it is January 5th,1998. Evey is watching V do a magic trick, making a bunny disappear. She asks for V to bring the rabbit back, and he asks her if they have the right to bring the rabbit back seeing as the rabbit could be happy wherever it is. He agrees to bring the rabbit back and gets rid of the cage, leaving the rabbit free to move around out in the open. Later, Evey and V are dancing and Evey asks V why he has never made a move on her. V brings up the question that maybe he is her father. V blindfolds Evey and takes her from the Shadow Gallery into the streets. She takes the blindfold off and V is standing there. He tells her that he is not her father and that her father is dead. She tells him she wants to go home and pushes V, only to realize that she was talking to a coat hanger disguised as V, with a recorder speaking to her. Chapter Two: The Veil The chapter starts out showing Rosemary Almond at her husband's burial. Some of Derek's colleagues are there as well. Roger Dascombe approaches Rosemary and asks how she is getting by. She thinks he is being more than just friendly. It seems bother her but she knows that she might have to give in and do things that she normallt wouldnt doo. Eventhoughh Derek was abusive, Rosemary still fekt safe and secure around him. Eventuallt, Rosemary gives in to Roger and he takes her out to dinner. She realizes that she needs to do things differently in order to survive in the unsafe world. Evey ends up being alone again and has to figure out how she will get by. Chapter Four: A Vocational Viewpoint (pg. 112) V had just broken into the broadcasting center and hacked it so he was now playing on every single television in London. Speaking to the people as if he were their boss, he tells them that through out the years they have come a long way. He acknowledges all of the innovations and other important findings they have discovered throughout the years, but points out that they have also had several problems along the way. Still using business references, he says thet they are standing still, and it is showing in their work. He rebukes them for all of the wars, killing and then on a more personal level, domestic violence. At this time in the chapter it is clear that the fingermen are on their way to whrere V is, with loaded weapons ready to attack. V starts to make one last point, saying how the management throughout the years has been terrible, and blames the people for electing them. He tells them that time and time again they allow themselves to be brainwashed by these leaders and never do anything about it. He leaves the people with a promise that they have two years to shape up or they will be "fired". At this point the fingermen break into the room and gun down V and he falls through a glass window down to the ground below. Chapter 6: Variety Gordon takes Evey to a cabaret, where they meet with his friends. Evey thinks that his friends are not very nice, and one named Robert is begging Creedy to not make his mom go to “a home.” Robert says the homes are just gas chambers. Creedy refuses, and leaves. Then a Scottish gang comes. Robert gets into a fight with them, and the gang kills him. Gordon and Evey, however, were able to leave in time. Chapter 7: Visitors The chaperr begins with Finch running away from twoo men. On April 5th they show Evey in a kitchnn with a man we soon find out is Gordon and that Evey has been living with him since she was left alone by V. Gordon tells her that he will be needing the room thats she was staying in for the stuff that he has coming. She assumes that it means that he wants her to move out byt he reassures her that it means that she will now be sharinf a room with him. The two of them have feelings for each other and they procede to make love to each other after. On June 11th, two men show up to Gordon's house. Gordon tells Evey to go into the bathroom and to lock herself into the bathroom. At his door the two men, one named Harper, are there to collect money from Gordon. The two greedy men ask Gordon to come towards the door in order for them to discuss a compensation. Foolishly, he did as they told him and he went to the door. At that moment one of the men pulls out a sword and stabs through his door, killing him. They walk away and Evey comes out of the bathroom, unknowingly asking Gordon if it was okay for her to come out .She goes and sees his body laying on the ground as she comes out and just sits on the stairs. This event brings back memories of when Evey's mother died, when her father was taken away to the camp, and when V left her. She is all alone. She goes back into the bedroom and at the end of this chapter we see Evey go into the dresser and there is a gun sitting there. Chapter 10 Evey's in a "prison" and her meals are fed to her through a hole in the cell door. Guards come in to take her way for questioning. They blindfold her and she cant see them or where they are taking her. When they take off her blindfold all she can see is a really bright light shining on her. The guards show Evey a film and then she has flashbacks of her job as being a prostitute and she then freezes up when she sees the picture of V. Evevy then realizes that they know of her involvement with V. We then find out later that V actually set this whole thing up to "free" Evey from her prison in which she trapped herself in Chapter 11 Valerie Evey is reading the letter and it’s kind of like a flash back, so we are seeing how Valerie grew up. She was a lesbian. Evey is pretty much being drowned in water until she talks. Then flashes back to the letter. Valerie met Ruth while working. The gays were taken. She said they shaved her head and brought her there, where Evey is. Then Valerie says she may never know the person reading the letter, but she hopes they escape that place. Then the guards try to make up a story to where she was and how everything happened. The story goes like this "On the 5th of November,1997, I was abducted by the terrorist knows as codename 'v' and then taken against my will to an unknown location. Once there I was systematically brainwashed by means of drugs and torture both physical and psychological. I was frequently subjected to sexual abuse during this period. Eventually I was terrorized into helping him commit murders. There’s included the unlawful killings of Mr. Rogers Dasombe, Mr. Derek Almond, Dr. Delia Surridge and the reverend Anthony Lilliman, Bishop of Westminster. I also undertook the attempted murder of Mr. Peter Creedy. I, the undersigned swear that the above statement is genuine, and that it was not signed by means of intimdation and she was told to sign it, and she says No. so they take her back to her cell. Chapter 13: Values This chapter opens up with Evey being extremely agitated with V for torturing her. V explains that he did it for her to remove the fear that she had and to show her freedom. V explains to her that she has been living in a prison for so long that she does not know what freedom is like. At the end of the chapter Evey understands what V is trying to tell her. Chapter 14 Setting: The Shadow Garden. The chapter opens with Evey walking in on V playing a song on the piano. Evey thanks V for helping her to be transformed or to find herself. We now find out the girl, Valerie who wrote the note Eve found in her cell is real. The same note helped V to transform. Valerie is also the girl from room 4 back in Larkhill. V shows Evey the rose garden he grew in memory of Valerie because Valerie always hoped there would be roses again. V then tells Evey there is a rose for Alistair Harper all she has to do is pluck it. When Evey is about to pluck the largest rose V says, “Let it grow.” Evey and V then discuss the next step in V’s plan and V says the finale is next. The finale is to come faster than expected as V describes. V tells Evey she will be needed for the finale. The chapter ends with an dance between V and Evey. Book Three Chapter 7 - Vindication (231-238) Setting: Victory Station - Opens with Finch walking into the train station to see the rose painted train. Scene changes to the Leader in the car thinking about how there is nobody but him and god. He thinks to himself that he should love the people of England more. He feels they love him so much since they cheer and wave when he passes but they are being forced to cheer by the Fingermen with guns to their backs. Back at Victory station: Finch looks in the window of the train to see it's filled with roses. He hears V's voice and follows it to a figure of V holding a guitar with a tape recorder of his voice next to it. As he bends down to examine the figure, the real V is behind him. Scene changes to Mrs. Almond with the crowd gathered around the Leader's car thinking to herself walking towards the car. The Fingermen let her through the ropes to talk to the Leader and when he reaches out to shake her hand she pulls out a gun and kills him. Meanwhile V throws a knife into Finch's shoulder and Finch shoots V. V walks away leaving Finch and a trail of blood in the train station. When Finch sees the blood he screams that he's killed V. There is a meeting announcing the Leader's death and that power would then pass to the Finger. As they try to plan how to handle V, Finch stumbles in saying that he shot and killed V. Chapter 9 - The Vigil (pg 245) Setting: Shadow gallery - Evey Sits on the stairway of the shadow gallery staring at V's dead body. She follows his trail of blood to see where it leads, while she reminisces on the last conversation she had with him. Their last conversation held hint of V expecting his death. While still following the trail of blood, she overhears on the radio that "everything is under control". Tensions are high in the capital seeing as this is the eve of November 5th. Evey still thinks back on her last conversatino with V trying to make sense of it in her confusion of what to do. She walks back to V's body and thinks about looking at the face under that mask. She imagines the face being Gordon or her fathers. After a small internal battle she thinks of seeing her own face under the mask. In this moment Evey realizes that it doesn't matter who is beneath the mask because it is everyone. She walks to the vanity and smiles. The scene cuts to Finch and his assistant talking about all the people crowded around waiting for something to happen. Finch feels as though he doesn't belong anymore ,and that he may be changing his mind about the capital and his job. He says his goodbyes to Dominic, and leaves.